


Bark your praise

by Ac3s



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: AU, Dogs, M/M, Morbid_beauty, Other, Princess and the Frog AU, Sappiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:32:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1493419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ac3s/pseuds/Ac3s
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A princess and the frog AU written for morbid_beauty. </p><p>As the story goes, Frank gets turned into a puppy and meets Gerard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bark your praise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morbid_beauty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morbid_beauty/gifts).



Frank sat on the park bench for the third night in a row. He was starting to realize that this wasn't a dream, and the girl at the bar wasn't fucking with him. She'd turned him into a _dog,_ what the fuck?  
A sound resembling a whine escaped his throat as he padded around on the wooden seat.  
People had given him scraps, sure, but he just wanted a fucking _sandwich._  
He layed down on the wood and thumped his tail restlessly. Maybe he could grab it off of some picnickers, like Yogi Bear.  
Or Tom Cat.  
Or whoever else has to steal food from picnic baskets because they're unsheltered animals.  
Frank sighed, and curled up into a ball.  
He was going to be here awhile.  
**  
Gerard took it upon himself to get a good fill of the great outdoors by spending as much of the weekend's daylight at the park by his apartment center.  
God knows he can't even _glance_ out the window of his office.  
A bird flits past him on it's way to a dark bundle on a park bench.  
Gerard's stomach twists uneasily when the bird closes in on it, and starts pecking.  
The bundle shifts, _thank god,_ but the bird is persistent. It isn't until Gerard hears a loud yelp that he runs over to the bench and swats the bird away, getting a few tugs on his hair from it before it finally decides to leave.  
Gerard pats down his hair nervously, looking at the petrified animal in front of him.  
Its large, honey eyes stare unblinkingly, and Gerard coos.  
"Aw darling, are you alone?"  
The dog, of course, doesn't answer.  
Gerard smiles as if it had.  
He reaches a hand out, and is pleased that the dog lets him smooth down the soft black fur of its head and back.  
Now, Gerard _knows_ he shouldn't go around petting foreign dogs, but this one is different, he knows!  
(Gerard tamps down the cynical voice chiding him that a little boy had spoken those very words to his mother, seconds before a neighborhood dog had chomped on his left hand).  
The dog jerks away suddenly from Gerard's hand and scratches it's claws against his palm.  
It doesn't hurt, because he's obviously just asking for attention.  
"What is it, boy?" Boy? Girl? Gerard doesn't really want to check before they've gotten acquainted.  
The dog- it'd be helpful if it had a name- barks and scratches against Gerard's hand repeatedly, then sniffs around the edge of the bench.  
It stops directly in front of Gerard's bag, and gazes up at him expectantly.  
This surprises a laugh from Gerard, as he realizes that _of course,_ this dog probably needs to be fed. And bathed. And _cared for-_  
He's startled out of his thoughts by more barking and scratching. Gerard looks down at the dog and is met with such a human expression that it throws him off a bit.  
He chalks it up to this dog just being...expressive... And gives it the half of his sandwich he had saved for this outing.  
*  
Frank believes there _is_ a God when the guy that comes over decides to help him out.  
The sudden religious epiphany is smashed to pieces when _out of nowhere_ this guy just _picks him up_ and _carries him away._  
Frank is so upset that all he can do is whine and twist in the man's arms.  
This wasn't supposed to happen, damn it. He just wanted some food out of this exchange. Now he's probably off to make the dreams of a violent five-year old come true and live under the roof (or possibly in the patio) of a middle class family with respectable origins and strong ties to their community. The guy really didn't look the type, but his vision's a little warped in this... Form.  
The man just babbles something cutesy in a comforting tone to shut Frank up while he's hauling him off.

Frank really doesn't know how he got to be in this position.  
*  
_Except, he does._

The woman was gorgeous, and exactly Frank's type. She was surrounded by friends, so he waited around the booths of the bar until they left her sitting alone on a stool.  
He strode up to her, inebriated with liquid confidence, and leant in close by her ear.  
"Helloo, beautiful." She started to straighten up, so he continued.  
"You and those pretty tits got somewhere to be?" He smiled lewdly toward he chest, and she snarled at him.  
"None of your business." She replied gruffly.  
"Oh but I just got started-"  
"Leave me alone." She said, intimidatingly enough for Frank to be quieted.  
"Alright." He backed off, and sat at the barstool she'd left unoccupied.  
He put his elbows up on the bar counter and rubbed at his eyes.  
His vision was still blurry.  
Frank sighed heavily and ordered another beer. Couldn't hurt, really.  
It was when he found himself in front of the woman from earlier that he knew he was significantly more drunk than he intended to be.  
She was screaming at him, cursing in a language he wasn't sure was English. He'd tried to hit on her again, and punched the kid who told him to back off.  
She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and forced him outside.  
The world spun and spun, until it was just the dark expanse if the sky all around him.  
And those large bins.  
The taaallll buildings.  
The pretty grey lights...

And the first night was pretty much the worst. He was cold, wet, and starving.  
Oh, and a fucking _dog._  


**  
Gerard smiled stupidly at it.  
He got a fucking _dog._  
He was going to take care of it, and love it, and...he should probably name it.

He clapped his hands together excitedly, scaring the puppy.  
"Ok! Sorry, I'm just excited. Are you? This is going to be great! I mean, for a stray you're in great condition! And you'll be comfortable here- there's a lot of light- and you'll be with me!" Gerard grinned and scratched the dog- _his dog!!_ behind the ears.

"Alright. Names. How about I throw out some ideas, and you work on giving some semblance of a yay or nay."  
The dog stared at him evenly. Alright.

"Danny."  
No response.

"...Astro?"  
The dog laid down.

"Sandy."  
It yawned.

Gerard pursed his lips in worry, he didn't even know if he was a he or she, when he thought of a _great idea._

He went into the kitchen, pulling out several items from the fridge and heating them a bit in his tiny microwave before setting them out on their own paper plates. With some toothpicks and index cards, he made little signs for each one.  
Gerard smiled to himself. This is _awesome._  


**  
Frank was rolling around on this guy's _superfuckincomfy_ carpet when he was hit by the pure smell of _meats_ and _food_ and _mouthwatering-_  
"So we'll try this!" The guy says cheerily. He's balancing several paper plates on his hands and arms that Frank is _attentiveattentiveattentive_ to, knowing those delicious smells are on those precariously perched plates.  
The guy sets them down carefully in front of Frank, and he restrains himself until after Guy straightens up to bolt towards the best one.  
He's devoured half the roast beef slices on the plate when he hears the guy say "-Astro it is!" And he notices the signs on each plate.  
Frank had just chosen to be called _Astro,_ Jesus Christ.  
He can't bring himself to care too much while he's eating the roast beef, and he resigns himself to the name if it means being fed regularly.  
**  
Frank whines helplessly at "by the way, I'm Gerard!!" Guy and rubs his face against the bathroom door.  
Gerard has been drawing _all day_ and Frank would not like to fucking piss himself on the god damn carpet.  
Or like, be smacked on the ass with a newspaper because he pissed himself.  
Either way, it ends badly for him.  
Gerard is too focused on what he's doing.  
Frank sighs inwardly and pads his way over across the soft carpet in Gerard's room to the desk chair. Frank jumps a little to gain purchase on Gerard's pant leg, then digs in with his claws and scratches furiously at Gerard's thigh.  
Even that takes a couple of tries.  
Then Gerard makes a displeased noise and _shakes Frank off of him,_ making Frank yelp and cry out as his body twists and he lands in a heap on his back.  
His (embarrassing) cry of pain during the fall seemed to have snapped Gerard out of his little work daze, and he goes over to where Frank is sprawled out. He makes little cooing noises and asks Frank if he's okay but Frank is just SICK of being so dependent on someone so he just gets back up and sprints toward the front door. He jumps up to scratch at it, and finally gets Gerard to take him outside.

The day is warm and breezy, but Frank is more focused on the unsettling weight of the collar and leash around his neck.  
He hadn't worn the collar inside ever, because he didn't need to. Now, he supposes, it's against the law not to. It's still uncomfortable.  
Gerard tugs at the leash a bit and Frank growls involuntarily.  
That makes Gerard stop entirely, almost choking Frank mid-step.  
Jesus, collars are _awful._  
Gerard crouches down next to him, and Frank does his best to summon a glare. Gerard looks pretty disturbed, so maybe it worked.  
Gerard pats him in the head awkwardly and stands to resume their walk.

Frank is willing to accept small victories.  


**  
"Astro! Fuck- come _here,_ Astro!" Gerard was running after Astro again.  
He hated being on a leash, he made that obvious, but Gerard was in _no_ condition for all this running.  
A couple of people were staring at him from across the street as he chased down Astro.  
"I'm sorry!" He called to them.  
"He's just not used to his name yet!"  
He looks back toward where Astro skidded off to and sees that the small dog ended up wearing himself out.  
"Serves you right." He says, walking up to a panting Astro.  
Astro makes a face at him.  
Well, Gerard supposes, it looks like neither of them are in a condition to run.  
**  
Frank is still panting between lapping up water when he starts coughing.  
As a dog, his coughs sound a lot worse than in person.  
The disorientation of coughing without hands to cover his mouth or bipedal abilities was only worsened when Gerard _picks him up_ and puts him over his shoulder, attempting to burp him like a child.  
Frank squirmed and whimpered as Gerard kept trying to burp him.  
When Frank felt like he could  
_breathe_ he growled and kicked his tiny legs around until Gerard set him down again.  
He let out a huff.  
"Jesus."  
A thick pause filled the air at the sound of Frank's voice.  
...he wasn't expecting that.  
Neither was Gerard.

"What the _fuck?_ "

Frank stared back at Gerard, weighing the consequences of answering him.

Well.

"Hi?"

Gerard does what any sensible person would, and hightails it out of the apartment.  
**  
Gerard is not drunk, or high, or dreaming.  
He makes sure of that by banging down Mikey and his girlfriend's apartment door at five in the afternoon.

"Gerard? Are you alright?"  
"I have a talking dog."  
Mikey pauses, and blinks at Gerard a couple of times before responding,  
"Ok, that's not what I asked."  
"It's a talking dog, Mikes." He rolls his eyes. Did his brother really not _get it?_  
"Are you alright?"  
"Would you be?"  
Mikey stares at him with a frustrated look on his face and runs a hand through his hair. He steps back to let Gerard in.

When they're both situated at the kitchen table, Gerard continues.  
"So I have this dog-"  
"Yes, the talking dog."  
"Shut up, Mikey."  
"It's kind of hard to believe." He intones blandly.

Gerard relents.  
"Ok, I know it sounds...bad. But. He just talked to me. Astro. The dog."  
"Alright, what did he say?"  
"...Jesus."  
"Is it starting so sound unbelievable to you too?"  
"No that's- that's just what he said!"  
Mikey nodded, a solemn look on his face.  
He stood, helping Gerard up as well, and led him to the door.  
"Get some sleep, Gerard."  


**  
Meanwhile, Frank was freaking out. This was _worse_ than the time Gerard had forgotten to take him out before he left for work, or when he had bought those extra meaty treats and given him that instead of dog food, or even when he had _forgotten him at the park._  
Now Frank was running around the apartment hoping Gerard would just come back and completely forget he said anything. Literally.  
When he had tired himself out, he went over to the pile of artfully arranged newspapers, and fell asleep.

He awoke to a consistent poking sensation to his rib cage.  
Frank cracked his eyes open and stared back at the pale face before him.  
"Uh. Hi?"  
Gerard's eyes widened in fear as he scrambled away from Frank.

"You're talking. Speaking. Aloud."  
"Yeah, didn't think I could do that."  
"Why- how? Can you do that?"

Frank thought about this.  
"Well, I'm not actually a dog. So, there's that."  
"What do you mean?" Gerard was staring intently at Frank's face.

"I was like, cursed. I dunno. Some chick at a party I kept hitting on. I'm a dog, get it?"

Gerard didn't look too convinced, but Frank couldn't offer another explanation.

Finally, he just asked what his name was.

"Frank. By the way- Astro? Really?"  
"You picked it!"  
"I picked the _roast beef_ on the plate; why would I read the signs?"

Gerard looked like he would have argued more, but seemed to grasp the hilarity of their situation all at once. He laughed brusquely, suddenly doubled over in the heat of the moment with gasping breaths in between huge bouts of laughter. It was a bit manic, from Frank's perspective, but Gerard could only laugh, and hope he hadn't hallucinated the shit out of all of this.  


**  
After Gerard had picked himself up, he patted Frank on the head and shut himself in his room.

Alright, Frank thinks, I can roll with that.

He kind of wanted to explore this speaking thing a bit more...  
Oh, wait.

"Gerard! What the fuck, man?" He yelled out.  
He went over and scratched at Gerard's bedroom door.

"Now I can make some complaints! Get me a real bed! Or let me sleep on yours! Stop buying the gross plasticky treats! Don't pat my fucking head! Come _out here motherfucker._ "

Gerard's door swung open suddenly and Frank fell forward- face first.

"Ooph! Hey man I'm not like a cat-"  
Gerard picked him up, effectively cutting off whatever he was saying.  
It scared the _shit_ out of Frank to be carried like that.

Gerard raised him to eye-level and spoke calmly.

"This is still reaally fucking weird. Give me some time to adjust to a talking dog with a mouth worse than mine and then we can talk about your meaty treats and sleeping on a bed."

Frank huffed. Fuck that.  
He went for begging, though.

"Aww c'mon man. Please? Look it's just like in the cartoons. I'm like, Yogi Bear! Please talk to me. I don't know why I'm a talking dog either, man. Freaks me out, too."

Gerard just kept staring. Frank squirmed in his grip.

"Alright," Gerard relents, and walks to the couch with Frank tucked safely in his arms.  
"So, tell me about this curse of yours, dog."  


**  
Frank gets a lot of shit from Gerard about being a drunken bastard, but the story is told with minimal injury. "And that's how I became a dog."  
"No shit."  
"No shit, dude."  
"I feel like I should have been high for this."  
"Me too." Frank nods solemnly, with his small, furry head.

Gerard reaches to pet him absently and Frank bites his hand.  
"Ow, Frank what the hell?"  
"Don't pet me, motherfucker."  
"Jesus Christ you're a _dog._ "  
Frank stood and went to gnaw on Gerard's thigh.  
Gerard just laughs and pushes him away easily. When Frank rolls over on the couch from the force, he growls, and barks for good measure.

"Anyway, how'd she tell you you could break the spell?"  
Frank froze. He didn't think she went over that part.  
"I mean, that's how these things usually go, right?"  
Frank racked his brain for anything from that night that said 'how to break the spell!!'  
"Like, a witches broom or a raven's feather. Dragon's teeth. A lock of hair. A modicum amount of virginal blood..."  
Frank couldn't reply. He knows that Gerard was joking about most of them, but it could really be _any_ of them.  
"...an incantation, or a reversal spell. Maybe even a dance. How about a song? Or true love's kiss!"  
Gerard was really getting into it now, and broke out laughing by the end of his suggestions. Frank latched onto the last one.

"How about that then?"  
"...what?"  
"Nevermind."

Frank was at a loss. Any of Gerard's suggestions could be the spell breaker, and he had no idea. But the last one was so familiar...  
Then again, they weren't in love.  
He doesn't think.  
Could it really hurt to try, then?

"Yeah, the last one. Kiss me."  
"Frank- Frank I was joking, come on-"  
"Seriously! I mean- if it doesn't work whatever because people kiss dogs all the time, right? So." Frank stopped babbling and looked up at Gerard. He looked pained.

"I mean, alright. Like. Princess-and-the-frog style then?"  
"Yeah, I think so."

Gerard lifts Frank up again, and faces him front-on.

He clears his throat.  
"Alright."

Gerard leans in quick and kisses him just below his snout. Frank didn't really know what to do. He licks him.  
Gerard pulled back laughing and put Frank down on the couch again, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

" _Alright,_ so that didn't work..."  
Gerard turns toward Frank to find a confused, tattooed young man in place of a small, black puppy.  
He's at a lost for words, and the young man appears to be at a loss as well.  
"...Frank?"  
"Hello again. Uh." He scratches his head a bit and hunches in on himself.  
"Have any extra clothes?"  


**  
Gerard lets Frank change in privacy and paces outside the bedroom door. There are so many questions on his mind, the first being "how in the HELL did that WORK and WHY do these THINGS happen to ME."

Frank was kind of hot. Super attractive kind of hot. _Tattoos_ super attractive kind of hot.

And he was, just _two minutes ago,_ a dog.

Gerard was in no condition to be dealing with fairy tales.  
When Frank emerged from his room looking adorably rumpled and just as frazzled, he could tell that he'd felt the same.

They sat back down on the couch.  
Neither spoke for awhile, for fear of breaking the silence.  
Until Frank came out with something that caught them both off guard.

"So. True love's kiss, huh?"


End file.
